The Morning Ledger: From Jobs to Jobs

Reporter

The day ahead. Yesterday was all about Jobs, today is all about jobs. The September report is out at 8:30 and should look a lot better than September’s flat line we got for August. Let’s hope so — a downside surprise would knock the markets for a loop and signal double-dip territory. Expectations are for between 60,000 and 100,000 new jobs, depending on who you ask — WSJ’s MarketBeat has a nice roundup. But WSJ’s Kelly Evans says not to get too excited about the top line number, which will be inflated because 45,000 striking Verizon workers who were subtracted from the August number will be added back in for September. In other words, underlying job growth is likely to be only about half as strong as Friday’s headline number suggests. And that means the unemployment rate is likely to hold steady at 9.1%, “which will be cold comfort for markets, politicians and the general public, all desperate for signs of improvement,” Evans says.

Markets flash: Asian markets fed off the momentum of rallies in Europe and the U.S. and the Nikkei rose 1%, but European markets are jittery so far as they, like seemingly everyone else, await U.S. jobs data. The Stoxx Europe 600 is essentially flat, and U.S. stock futures are edging down.

Datapoint: 3.94% That was the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with an average of 0.8 point for the week ended yesterday, said Freddie Mac – the lowest in history. A year ago it was 4.27%. Great for refinancers, but also a sign of the apocalypse?

Nearly across the board, mid-market executives are hiring new employees, buying new technology solutions, acquiring businesses to reach new markets and preparing IPOs, according to a Deloitte survey of more than 500 mid-market executives. But companies are running up against a number of constraints as they seek to expand, particularly in acquiring and retaining skilled talent.